Engage grades 6-12 in coding a Choose Your Own Adventure about climate issues. Students research and write branching narratives, coding environmental outcomes.
Pacing
1 class · 60 min
Grade
Grade 7
Coding
Beginner
Students codePlayer ActionsOn Page StartSequenceParallel
Opens a private practice project in the Studio — no account needed.
Why do climate decisions involve tradeoffs rather than simple right answers?
Students will be able to
Research a climate issue such as biodiversity loss, water scarcity, deforestation, or pollution.
Write a narrative with branching paths exploring different environmental outcomes.
Code interactive story elements highlighting consequences of various decisions.
Share their stories to discuss and reflect on environmental impact.
Key vocabulary
dikefloodplaintradeoffcautionary tale
Assessment
Formative
Use milestone checks, organizer responses, and daily test evidence to guide feedback.
Summative
The setting, dilemma, choices, and two outcomes use evidence accurately and show connected consequences with realistic limits. Each choice reaches the intended outcome, the cautionary route can return to the decision, and music or animation supports the differing moods.
The student journey
This is a build — not a worksheet packet
Every lesson runs like the story students are about to make: read it, write it, build it, polish it, publish it. The printables scaffold each stage — the published Elementari project is the destination.
1
📖
Read
Students read a short, high-interest passage — a real-world hook, not a dry textbook definition — to spark ideas for what they'll make.
📖The Country That Let the River In
In the winter of 1995, the rivers of the Netherlands rose and kept rising. Water pressed against the dikes — the great earthen walls that keep a quarter of the country from flooding — and in the river region, roughly a quarter of a million …
SourcesRijkswaterstaat (Dutch Ministry of Infrastructure and Water Management) — Room for the RiverClimate-ADAPT (European Climate Adaptation Platform) — Room for the River Waal, Nijmegen
In the studio, students bring the project to life — adding art and following the exact writing and coding steps shown below. The Studio Compass walks them through it, one step at a time.
🧭Studio CompassStep 1 / 9
Research & Prewriting 📚
Select a climate issue (biodiversity loss, water scarcity, deforestation, climate change, or pollution) Conduct research - Use the Research Organizer ( PDF or google doc ) to help.
Key words — tap to learnobject block
Each step checks off & advances on its own
All 9 studio steps · dynamic to the project
1Research & Prewriting 📚~20 min
2Beginning Your Story Adventure 🚀~5 min
3Introducing the Dilemma ❓~5 min
4Outcome 1 - The Positive Path ➕~10 min
5Outcome 2 - The Cautionary Tale ➖~10 min
6Coding Navigation - Story Choices 💻~10 min
7Coding Navigation - Story Flow 💻~5 min
8Coding Background Music 🎶~5 min
9Be Creative 🎉~10 min
4
🔁
Polish
ongoing
Teacher and peer feedback pin right onto the project — students revise until it's ready to share.
Feedback on the project2 pins
🍎
Add one more sentence here so readers get the full picture.
👍 2Teacher
A
The interaction is clear — it helps the reader follow the project!
A couple of things to gather, a few quick steps to prep — then you're ready to hand it to students.
What you need
A device per student or pair
Internet connection
Headphones or speakers
Prep · about 10 min
1Print the student kits
2Assign this lesson to your students
3Skim the build steps
Teacher background
What you need to know
Students learn that real climate choices weigh costs on every branch — acting has a price now, and not acting has a price later, and the two prices often land on different people. They apply this by writing a branching story whose choice is genuinely hard: a positive path with real costs and a cautionary tale with real logic, so the reader feels why communities argue about which future to buy.
Key terms
dike
a wall of earth or stone built to hold back water
floodplain
low land beside a river that naturally floods when the water rises
tradeoff
a choice that gains one benefit by giving up another
cautionary tale
a story showing how a choice can lead to harm
Watch for these misconceptions
✕
The positive choice instantly solves the whole climate issue. →Add one limitation, delayed effect, or need for continued collective action.
✕
The negative path is punishment rather than a plausible consequence of the choice. →Return to the evidence and write the direct short- and longer-term effects without moralizing.
Standards alignment
Aligned to the standards you teach
Every task maps to a specific standard, so planning and reporting are covered.
Tracking 7 frameworks: Common Core ELA, Common Core Math, NGSS +4
CCSS · ELA16CSTA7ISTE11AASL3NGSS15 frameworks · 38 standards · DOK 2–3
CCSS · ELA
Common Core State Standards — English Language Arts
16 standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, relevant descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.2
Write informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas and information clearly.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.5
With guidance and support from peers and adults, develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.7.7
Conduct short research projects to answer a question, drawing on several sources and generating additional related questions when appropriate.
Systematically test and refine programs using a range of student-created inputs.
3A-AP-16
Design and iteratively develop computational artifacts for practical intent, personal expression, or to address a societal issue.
2-AP-13
Decompose problems and subproblems into parts to facilitate the design, implementation, and review of programs.
3A-AP-19
Systematically design and develop programs for broad audiences by incorporating feedback from users.
Also addressed2-AP-15 · 2-AP-19 · 3A-AP-23
ISTE
ISTE Standards for Students
11 standards
ISTE 1.4.a
Students know and use a deliberate design process for generating ideas, testing theories, creating innovative artifacts, or solving authentic problems.
ISTE 1.4.c
Students develop, test, and refine prototypes as part of a cyclical design process.
ISTE 1.6.d
Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audiences.
ISTE 1.5.d
Students understand how automation works and use algorithmic thinking to develop a sequence of steps to create and test automated solutions.
Also addressedISTE 1.3.a · ISTE 1.3.b · ISTE 1.1.c · ISTE 1.6.b · ISTE 1.6.c · ISTE 1.5.c · ISTE 1.3.d
AASL
AASL National School Library Standards
3 standards
AASL I.A.1
Learners display curiosity and initiative by formulating questions about a personal interest or a curricular topic.
Also addressedAASL I.B.1 · AASL I.B.3
NGSS
Next Generation Science Standards
1 standard
NGSS MS-ESS3-5
Ask questions to clarify evidence of the factors that have caused the rise in global temperatures over the past century.
Full task-by-task mapping — including Depth of Knowledge — is in the answer key.
Differentiation & accessibility
Built to reach every learner
One lesson, three built-in paths — with accessibility baked into the materials, not bolted on afterward.
Extra support
Emerging readers & writers
Read-aloud and multilingual support in the Elementari build
Studio Compass highlights one task at a time — including the coding
Sentence frames and a word bank so it is never a blank page
On grade
The core lesson
The passage and storyboard exactly as written
Model answers and “look-fors” in the answer key
Self-check chips at every milestone
Ready for more
Extension & challenge
Challenge vocabulary and a real-world extension question
Deepen one existing page or interaction — without changing the required mechanics
A longer, evidence-based reflection prompt
Accessibility, built inPredictable step-by-step structureOne task at a time · Studio CompassHighlighted response areasLow-stimulation printMovement-friendly pacingDesigned so every student can design, write, and code — with ADHD, autism, and dyslexia in mind.
Questions
Teacher FAQ
Do I — or my students — need to know how to code?
No. Coding concepts are introduced in plain language exactly when students need them, and Studio Compass confirms each milestone so students keep moving without you troubleshooting. The teacher guide walks you through the whole build, answers included.
How long does this lesson take?
About 80, paced into 45-minute class periods. You can spread it out or compress it — students pick up where they left off, so it doesn't have to finish in one sitting.
What devices does this lesson work on?
Students can read, write, code, and publish on Chromebooks, iPads, tablets, laptops, or desktops. All they need is a modern browser — nothing to download or install.
What is Studio Compass?
Studio Compass is the step-by-step guide inside the Studio. It shows students what to do next, identifies the exact coding blocks they need, and confirms completed milestones so they can keep moving independently.
How does this lesson support different learners?
This lesson includes read-to-me with synchronized highlighting, a built-in glossary, and picture-based storyboarding, with writing and coding scaffolds you can dial up or down. Students can work with guided support or more independently — and still finish the same project.
Ready when you are
Bring this lesson to your class
Import your class, assign in one click, and watch them build — the whole kit comes with it.
